A Little While
by Miss Radcliffe
Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione have left the Burrow on a mysterious and secret quest. These are Ginny’s feelings when she wakes up to find her brother, best friend, and her.... Harry, gone.


Title: A Little While

Summary: Harry, Ron, and Hermione have left the Burrow on a mysterious and secret quest. These are Ginny's feelings when she wakes up to find her brother, best friend, and her……. Harry, gone.

A/N: This story was written a complete whim. I've always planned to write an H/G story but with book 7 so close to release (at least for me it is) I don't know if I'll have time. This is to compensate just in case. Enjoy!

Miss Radcliffe

i They're gone. /i 

Being the mischievous Trio who always knew too much for their own good, I knew that after Dumbledore's death Harry, Ron, and Hermione would become more involved in the war. But when I woke this morning to the terrified shouts of Mum as she knocked on Ron's bedroom door to find the only thing on his pillow to be a hastily written note, I could not help the shock that crashed over me.

Last night had been as wonderful as can be expected when forced to be in such close proximity to your ex-boyfriend and brother's best mate. Harry was distant throughout Bill and Fleur's wedding not only to me, but also to all of the guests, sans Ron and Hermione. Something was up, but it was impossible to know what and beyond impossible to try and get it out of those stubborn three.

Harry has always had the tendency to be the hero; it's part of his nature and also one of the reasons why I'm so drawn to him. Nothing could have stopped him from doing whatever Dumbledore left him to do. But to just get up and leave without any warning or information as to where he was going and what he was doing just didn't seem fair. Nothing Harry did was fair. This includes breaking up with me.

To say I hadn't seen it coming would be an utter and complete lie. I could tell whenever he was hiding something and that was just the case in the days between the attack on Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral. I had a feeling our split was imminent, but I ignored it, instead enjoying my last few days as Harry's girlfriend.

I had let him do it. Smiling and reassuring him I was all right in order to mask my sorrow and loathing of those who had forced so many hardships on such a young boy. I let him walk away because I knew I couldn't stop him. He said he was doing this to protect me, so I wouldn't get hurt. How could he know that breaking up with me was hurting me just as badly?

I pretended to be okay on the train ride home where I joined Luna in a compartment instead of forcing my company on him. When we arrived at King's Cross, Ron and Hermione went with Harry to his horrid aunt and uncle's house, leaving me to be a good little girl and go home with Mum and Dad. That bond I'd felt the past few precious weeks when I'd been included in the famous Trio was gone. I was an outcast once more.

He said he wanted to protect me. Was that because he felt an obligation to? Or was it something else? Does Harry love me? I refuse to even entertain the idea. The disappointment would do worse than kill me. He wanted to protect me…

I sat up from my lying position on my cream colored sheets. I'd spent a considerable amount of the day here, sorting through my thoughts and emotions concerning today's events. I thought of owling Harry, demanding he tell me his whereabouts so I could meet him there. I knew this was impractical. Hermione would have thought to make them Unplottable, not only to enemies, but also to those who love them, those who would have the most power to stop them from whatever it is they're doing.

I was left behind, left out, forgotten. It was back to doing as I was told and watching, frightened, from the sidelines. Those weeks with Harry had meant nothing, as much as I wished that they had. The secret of his escape, his mission, his purpose and the fact that he didn't trust me enough to tell me any of these things had proved that. He didn't even say good-bye. Didn't even give me a warning.

A few stray tears leaked onto my cheeks and I didn't bother to brush them away. They were a testament to the end of my hoping and yearning that I would mean something more to Harry than Ron's little sister. I wish someone would scream in his ear, tell him all the pain he's causing me. Tell him to end it. A sob escaped my lips at these thoughts.

I looked up sharply as a tapping on my window interrupted my self-pity party. I peered out of the window, not surprised to find an owl there, but shocked to discover that the owl's feathers were snow white. I hastily unlocked the window and Hedwig came hobbling inside onto my desk and held out her leg. I stared at the letter, unable to believe that Harry, Ron, or Hermione would send a letter to me when they had just left this morning. I wondered what would happen if I simply rejected the letter and sent Hedwig back to the Trio. But curiosity and anticipation quickly got the better of me and I untied the letter. As soon as I finished, Hedwig took off again into the blazing summer sun.

I turned the letter over and over in my hands, noting the decrepit envelope and that there was no name or address on the front. Sighing, I opened the envelope, taking care not to rip it anymore than was necessary to ease the letter out of it.

My name was scrawled in Harry's handwriting across the folded parchment in black ink. It was from Harry. Why had he bothered to write to me? In truth, I considered it more likely my brother or best friend would send me a letter rather than Harry. What could he say? How could he possibly explain his actions? And why now? Why after he had left me, left my home and the closest thing to home he had ever known, and set on a completely secret mission he didn't even care to share with me?

I imagined what the letter might say. Would it apologize? Would Harry admit that he didn't like me, forget i love /i me, but his insanely frustrating hero complex insisted that he protect me?

Fuming for no apparent reason, I nearly tore the letter in two when I unfolded it. I braced myself and began to read:

i Ginny,

You're probably not too happy right now about me not telling you we were leaving. Please read the rest of this even though I know you're mad. It's important you understand.

We're in a lot of danger, Ginny, but I don't want you to worry too much. Hermione stole your Mum's book /i A Beginner's Guide to Healing i just in case we get in a spot of trouble. Between the three of us, we should be all right. We've got Hermione's brains, Ron's strategy, and my experience in finding- well, in finding what we're looking for.

I couldn't tell you we were leaving because I knew you'd try to stop me. And you are the one and only person who could have succeeded in doing just that. I know you would've liked to come with us, but I just couldn't risk your safety. I didn't want to bring Ron or Hermione with me either but they threatened to hex me into not going at all if they couldn't come.

Though you might not care, I'm sorry for being so distant with you since we returned to the Burrow. I just couldn't face you without getting on my knees and begging your forgiveness. Some Gryffindor I am. I don't think I ever told you, but you looked beautiful at Bill and Fleur's wedding. The bridesmaid rather outshone the bride in my opinion.

I have to go now, Ron and Hermione are coming back and they don't know I'm writing this. We'll be back as soon as we can. I promise, Ginny, I'll find a way to see you when I can and I'll come back to you.

Love,

Harry

P.S. Ron and Hermione are getting on quite well in the few hours since we left. I just wish they'd hurry it up and admit how they feel. Shouldn't be too much longer. /i 

I reread the letter three times just to make sure I wasn't imagining it. Tears fell onto the parchment, smudging some of the words. I'm not sure why I was crying. It could have been the fear I felt for Harry, Ron, and Hermione and their dangerous quest. It could have also been happiness I felt, knowing Harry still liked, dare I say loved, me. All I knew at that moment, besides the setting sun's colors seeping through my window and the parchment gripped tightly in my hands, was that I would hold Harry to his promise. He would find a way to see me, find a way to kill Voldemort. And then, he'd come back to me for good. All I had to do was wait a little while.

A/N: A huge thank you to my beta sonbook99 for agreeing to do this. Please leave a review to let me know what you think!

Miss Radcliffe


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